Bridgeton mayor James BegleyBRIDGETON — While recent state Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) cuts have area leaders reeling, city Mayor James Begley said prospective businesses have other options here.

The state’s $78 million cut in UEZ funds was announced last month. Bridgeton’s loss came to $730,000, as far as officials knew as of Thursday.

The remaining $116,000 will maintain a full-time police officer and three part-time special Class II officers.

But entrepreneurs can still tap the Cumberland County Improvement Authority (CCIA) and Empowerment Zone for start-up funds here, Begley said.

The catch is, authorities aren’t likely to give out loans quickly, he added. While the Empowerment Zone has about $3 million available, the mayor said, business owners should have plenty of assets available from the start.

“There’s definitely a tightening on credit,” Begley said. “You’ve got to be a company that can survive for about a year on its own.”

He explained that a businessperson seeking a loan should have “more than what you’re asking for.”

“There’s not going to be a big window for taking a risk on perspective builders,” Begley said.

“We’ve had great businesses come before the CCIA, and they’ve been turned down because they’d overstretched their equities.”

He suggested that entrepreneurs attend workshops and take advantage of other aids to “show that they have viable business plans.”

Begley said there are for now about $349,000 in “second generation” Empowerment Zone funds here, basically loan repayments that the state has apparently not decided to claim.

Begley said a meeting on the UEZ funds with state officials had been scheduled for Wednesday in Trenton but had been canceled, and he wasn’t aware of a reschedule date.

“There was supposed to be some more clarification” on the funds at the meeting, he added.

Ultimately, Begley holds out hope that the lost UEZ money will be returned, adding to the potential funds for incoming businesses.